The principle of the bi-dimensional puzzle called "figure-slide puzzle", invented in 1873 by Sam Lloyd is known, wherein numbered squares can slide one with respect to another within a rectangular frame. These squares fill the frame except for the space of one which is left empty and so allows the order of the numbers to be modified by sliding one with respect to the others by pushing them with a finger. The game consists in repositioning the squares in numerical order after having jumbled their order beforehand.
The purpose of the present invention is to give an additional dimension to the above-mentioned puzzle by the production of a tridimensional puzzle.
The most remarkable attempt at the production of a tri-dimensional figure-slide puzzle up to the present time is the one given in U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,959 filed by D. KOSAREK on Nov. 14, 1973. The solution described in the patent comprises twenty-six cubes enclosed in a plastic cubic box, with nine holes in each side.
The position of the cubes can be changed by inserting fingers into the holes, which enables the cubes to be reached and moved thanks to the empty space left by the absence of a twenty-seventh cube. This embodiment requires a box with relatively thick walls for it to be sufficiently rigid which makes difficult the insertion of fingers into the holes to move the cubes. Moreover, the cubes at the center of each side of the box are very difficult to move for, in order to displace them, two cubes along one of the edges of the box must first of all be set aside. The cube at the center of the box is still more difficult to move.